Saslove Winery – Vintage 2009

When I asked other winemakers their impression of the 2009 harvest, all said it was a “crazy year”, but there was also a consensus regarding the quality of the grapes: “good”.
 
I really can’t complain regarding the rainfall over the past winter, we received almost 100% of our annual average (Har Kena’an – 712 mm, Mitzpe Harashim – 960 mm). The frequency of the rain was also good. Two or three days of serious rain, then a dry period of 7 to 10 days allowed the rain to sink in well.

I started getting anxious during the month of February when I experienced a hamsin (hot and dry) that not only lasted a few days, but also reappeared before the month was even over. I felt that summer had come early, spring was very short.

This summer was hotter and more humid than in previous years. The vine was racing along toward maturity. I estimated that we would be harvesting about 2 weeks earlier than in previous years.

That was until I felt the first cold wind of fall, at the beginning of August. The cool winds did not pass quickly; they stayed with increasing cloudiness for almost a week. There were returns to the hot summer sun, and then fall returned with an impressive rainfall (almost 30 mm). And this was during August!

I didn’t have to far to see that what I was feeling was also felt by the vines. The progress toward fruit maturity slowed down dramatically.

I must admit that I was very anxious about the quality of the crops this year. I didn’t know if they would even reach maturity. I decided to wait and hope for the best.

Our first harvest was on September 22 (about one week later than “normal”) – Katida Merlot, and our last harvest was on October 15 – Tsivon Nebbiolo.

I can conclude that the quality of the grapes was surprisingly good, the sugar was down (I won’t be making any 14.5 % alcohol wines this year), and the acid levels were higher.

The fruit had complex flavours with a nice balance between sugar and acid.

Not a bad year!

My mother was an excellent cook. When she asked my father how was the meal, knowing very well that it was very good, my father would respond “not bad”.

Barry Saslove
Winemaker